Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is the First Office Action on the merits of Application No. 19/479543, filed on 10/28/2025. Claims 16-30 are still pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 16-18, 21, 24-27, 29-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 113277401 to Yun et al (henceforth referred to as Yun).
Regarding claims 16-18, 21, Yun discloses a guide rail segment (i.e. Fig. 1) of a guide rail arrangement for an elevator system (i.e. Title), comprising:
an elongated hollow profile (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 10) made of bent sheet metal; and
a filler material (i.e. 3, ref. 20);
wherein the hollow profile comprises:
a groove (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 17) extending in a longitudinal direction of the hollow profile, wherein the groove is formed by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, and wherein the groove forms an undercut;
a first compartment (i.e. Fig. 1, cavity between ref. 112 and 12) arranged next to the groove and extending in a first lateral direction, the first compartment delimited on four sides by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, wherein the first compartment forms a first support surface for supporting the guide rail segment relative to a shaft wall of the elevator system;
a second compartment (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 14) arranged next to the groove and extending in a second lateral direction opposite to the first lateral direction, the second compartment delimited on four sides by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, wherein the second compartment forms a second support surface for supporting the guide rail segment relative to the shaft wall of the elevator system; and
a third compartment (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 18) arranged next to the groove and extending in a height direction transverse to the first and the second lateral direction, the third compartment delimited on four sides by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, wherein the third compartment, with the opposite lateral surfaces, forms a guide surface (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 101) for guiding an elevator component (i.e. Technical Field: “an elevator guide rail and elevator guide mechanism”) to be displaced along the guide rail arrangement;
wherein each of the first, second and third compartments is delimited on one side by a respective partial region of the bent sheet metal forming the groove; and
wherein the filler material is received in the third compartment in such a manner that the filler material rests on all four sides against the partial regions of the bent sheet metal, delimiting the third compartment on a respective one of the sides (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 20 is sized to be received in cavity, Fig. 1, ref. 18).
Wherein the filler material fills the third compartment to at least 80% of a volume thereof (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 20 fills majority of cavity, ref. 18, of guide section, ref. 10).
Wherein the first and second compartment are at least 80% free of the filler material (i.e. Fig. 1, cavity ref. 14 does not have filler ref. 20).
Wherein the filler material is a prefabricated component (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 20 is prefabricated shape including holes to accept fasteners, ref. 200).
Regarding claims 24-27, Yun discloses a guide rail arrangement, comprising:
a plurality of guide rail segments (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 10, 10) each of the plurality of guide rails segments comprising:
an elongated hollow profile made of bent sheet metal (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 10); and
a filler material (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 20);
wherein the hollow profile comprises:
a groove (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 17) extending in a longitudinal direction of the hollow profile, wherein the groove is formed by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, and wherein the groove forms an undercut;
a first compartment (i.e. Fig. 1, cavity between ref. 112 and 12) arranged next to the groove and extending in a first lateral direction, the first compartment delimited on four sides by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, wherein the first compartment forms a first support surface for supporting the guide rail segment relative to a shaft wall of the elevator system;
a second compartment (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 14) arranged next to the groove and extending in a second lateral direction opposite to the first lateral direction, the second compartment delimited on four sides by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, wherein the second compartment forms a second support surface for supporting the guide rail segment relative to the shaft wall of the elevator system; and
a third compartment (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 18) arranged next to the groove and extending in a height direction transverse to the first and the second lateral direction, the third compartment delimited on four sides by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, wherein the third compartment, with the opposite lateral surfaces, forms a guide surface (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 101) for guiding an elevator component (i.e. Technical Field: “an elevator guide rail and elevator guide mechanism”) to be displaced along the guide rail arrangement;
wherein the guide rail segments are arranged one after the other in the longitudinal direction and are connected to one another (i.e. Fig. 3).
Wherein between two guide rail segments (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 10, 10), which are adjacent to one another in the longitudinal direction, a connected insert (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 20) is arranged, which is pressed into at least one of the first, second, and third components in a first of the two guide rail segments and into at least one of the first, second, and third compartments in a second of the two guide rail segments.
Wherein adjacent guide rail segments are connected to one another via rail connector plates (i.e. FIG. 3, ref. 30) which are fastened (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 200) to the guide rail segments by means of fastening elements which engage in the grooves in the corresponding guide rail segments.
An elevator system (i.e. Machine Translation of Abstract: “inventions relates to the technical field of elevator”), comprising:
an elevator shaft delimited by shaft walls (i.e. given);
at least one guide rail arrangement according to claim 24, which is fastened to one of the shaft walls; and
an elevator component to be displaced, which can be displaced along the elevator shaft, guided on the at least one guide rail arrangement (i.e. Machine Translation page 6, 6th paragraph: “the elevator guide mechanism plays a roll of guiding movement to the elevator”).
Regarding claims 29-30, Yun discloses a method for producing a guide rail segment (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 10) of a guide rail arrangement for an elevator system (i.e. Machine Translation of Abstract: “inventions relates to the technical field of elevator”, the method comprising:
providing an elongated hollow profile made of bent sheet metal (i.e. Fig. 1), wherein the hollow profile comprises:
a groove (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 17) extending in a longitudinal direction of the hollow profile, wherein the groove is formed by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, and wherein the groove forms an undercut;
a first compartment (i.e. Fig. 1, cavity between ref. 112 and 12) arranged next to the groove and extending in a first lateral direction, the first compartment delimited on four sides by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, wherein the first compartment forms a first support surface for supporting the guide rail segment relative to a shaft wall of the elevator system;
a second compartment (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 14) arranged next to the groove and extending in a second lateral direction opposite to the first lateral direction, the second compartment delimited on four sides by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, wherein the second compartment forms a second support surface for supporting the guide rail segment relative to the shaft wall of the elevator system; and
a third compartment (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 18) arranged next to the groove and extending in a height direction transverse to the first and the second lateral direction, the third compartment delimited on four sides by partial regions of the bent sheet metal, wherein the third compartment, with the opposite lateral surfaces, forms a guide surface (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 101) for guiding an elevator component (i.e. Technical Field: “an elevator guide rail and elevator guide mechanism”) to be displaced along the guide rail arrangement;
wherein each of the first, second, and third compartments is delimited on one side by a respective partial region of the bent sheet metal forming the groove; and
introducing a filler material (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 20) into the third compartment in such a manner that the filler material rests on all four sides against the partial regions of the bent sheet metal, delimiting the third compartment on a respective one of the sides (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 20 is sized to be received in cavity, Fig. 1, ref. 18).
Wherein the filler material is introduced by means of one of the following steps:
providing the filler material as a flowable, processable, and curable filler material, filling the filler material into the third component, and subsequently during the filler material in the third component; or
providing the filler material as a prefabricated component (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 20 is prefabricated shape including holes to accept fasteners, ref. 200) and inserting the prefabricated component into the third compartment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 113277401 to Yun et al in view of US Patent No. 9,381,770 to Bjorni (henceforth referred to as Bjorni).
Regarding claim 28, Yun does not specifically teach wall brackets are fastened to grooves in the corresponding guide rail segments. However, Bjorni teaches guide rail segments (i.e. Fig. 3, ref. 1, 1) are fastened to one of the shaft walls (i.e. Fig. 2) via wall brackets (i.e. Fig. 2, ref. 10), and wherein the wall brackets are fastened to the guide rail segments by means of fastening elements which engage in grooves (i.e. Fig. 1, ref. 7) in the corresponding guide rail segments. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use wall brackets and fasteners as taught in Bjorni to mount the hollow guide rail assembly as taught in Yun to secure the guide rail assembly along the length of shaft walls and there would have been reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 113277401 to Yun et al in view of WO 2013/055339 to Hubbard et al (henceforth referred to as Hubbard).
Regarding claim 22, Yun does not specifically teach protecting against corrosion. However, this is common in the art. For example, Hubbard discloses “conventional guide rails are made from steel and the surfaces must be protected from corrosion… One conventional method includes applying an anti-corrosion coating such as wax… An exemplary was based anti-corrosion coating is TECTYL 506 available from Valvoline Company” in paragraph 0002-0003. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use anti corrosion coating as taught in Hubbard in the surfaces of the hollow profile of the guide rail assembly as taught in Yun to extend the longevity of the guide rail and there would have been reasonable expectation of success.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19-20, 23 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN 112139311 to Leichtfried et al teaches a guide rail made of bent sheet metal with corrosion protection;
CN 106586768 to Wang teaches a guide rail made of bent steel metal;
US Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0307320 to Hubbard teaches a guide rail made of bent sheet metal and filler;
US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0011558 to Lusquinos teaches a guide rail made of bent steel metal;
US Patent No. 2,633,301 to Esch teaches a guide rail made of bent steel metal.
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/DIEM M TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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